IT cost é35,000 in legal expenses for the widow of Harold Shipman to appear at the inquiry into her husband's crimes.

Primrose Shipman attended the investigation into her husband's killing spree following drawn-out negotiations and after being granted immunity from prosecution.

Before being ordered to give evidence to the inquiry, Mrs Shipman, who still maintains her husband was innocent, had never spoken publicly about the case.

She gave three hours of evidence at a public hearing Manchester Town Hall in November 2001 and an 11-page witness statement, but many felt that her response did not shed any new light on her husband's crimes.

The former GP took his own life at Wakefield Prison in West Yorkshire last year.

A spokesman for the Shipman Inquiry said that the legal fees to Pannone and Partners covered the cost of researching previous court and witness statements and preparing Mrs Shipman in the run-up to the inquiry.

Representation

She said: "We did pay her legal costs as a party who was asked to give evidence and her position meant that she did need legal representation.

"She was asked about quite a number of cases and there was quite a lot of preparation for her lawyers to go over. Her position was quite complicated. She is the wife of a serial killer so there were some complex issues that her lawyers had to consider."

Other than legal fees, no additional payment was made to Mrs Shipman, she added.

Mrs Shipman had initially asked to give her evidence in private but that was rejected by inquiry chairman Dame Janet Smith.

Shipman was convicted at Preston Crown Court of killing 15 of his patients but the findings of the four-year inquiry suggested he was responsible for more than 250 deaths.

Those affected by the killer GP's crimes today condemned the legal payout.

Michael Woodruff, whose mother-in-law, Irene Turner, was one of Shipman's victims, said: "I'm absolutely appalled. We gave evidence at the trial and we didn't have any legal advice. We were asked questions by the prosecution and the defence and did not know what they were going to ask.